NOW OR WHEN 



After that they againe returned beene, 

 They in that Gardin planted bee agayne, 

 And grow afresh, as they had never scene 

 Fleshly corruption, nor mortall payne, 

 Some thousand yeares so doen they there remayne, 

 And then of him are clad with other hew, 

 Or sent into the chaungefull world agayne, 

 Till thither they retourne where first they grew : 

 So, like a wheele, arownd they ronne from old 

 to new. 



Ne needs there Gardiner to sett or sow, 

 To plant or prune; for of their owne accord 

 All things, as they created were, doe grow, 

 And yet remember well the mighty word 

 Which first was spoken by th' Almighty Lord, 

 That bad them to increase and multiply: 

 Ne doe they need with water of the ford, 

 Or of the clouds, to moysten their roots dry; 

 For in themselves eternall moisture they imply. 



Infinite shapes of creatures there are bred, 

 And uncouth formes, which none yet ever knew: 

 And every sort is in a sondry bed 

 Sett by itselfe, and ranckt in comely rew; 

 Some fitt for reasonable sowles t' indew, 



